PopCap teams with 9-year-old to grant wish, create fun game

With the help of PopCap's 4th and Battery studio and the Make-A-Wish …

PopCap's 4th and Battery studio is a place where offbeat games are made, a place where PopCap's designers can let their creativity run wild. The latest release, Allied Star Police, follows this mindset. It's a hybrid of a tower defense game and real-time strategy that takes place in futuristic world torn apart by galactic conflicts. The difference is that it was conceived and designed by a 9-year-old.

As part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, 9-year-old Owain Weinert—who has been diagnosed with pre-B Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia—participated in an event called PopCamp; essentially, an internal game jam where PopCap developers work on whatever games they like. Owain teamed up with the 4th and Battery crew to fulfill a wish to make a video game. And the result was Allied Star Police.

Allied Star Police

The game almost feels like a faster-paced version of Plants vs Zombies. Enemy ships fly along lanes, coming in from the right, while you place ships to fend them off on the left. Your defenses aren't static like most tower defense games, but instead speed along to the end of the level, hopefully taking out enemy forces along the way. Destroying bad guys earns you money, which you can then put into purchasing increasingly powerful ships. It's quite addictive.

While you might think that the quality of the game is solely a result of PopCap's skill at creating quality bite-sized experiences, it appears as though the game really is true to Owain's vision. During PopCamp he came armed with a PowerPoint presentation, outlining everything from the storyline and unit types to specific details like firepower, shields, and respawn times.

"The minute he walked in the door he handed us a fully realized game design, figured out to the last detail," said 4th and Battery producer Matthew Lee Johnston in a statement. "He stuck with that vision, and directed the team through the development process like a pro. When he first sat down to play it, he naturally knew what to do and won his first round easily, which felt to us like we did a good job executing on his plan."

Allied Star Police is available as a free download for the iPhone and iPad.

I hope that Owain survives his chemo. The itunes page says he is 9 years old, though, not 10 as mentioned in the article.

It is possible that the iTunes page and the article were written at different times, and ages have a way of changing over time.

It doesn't take much to not be rude. If he was 9 when he wrote the game, then PopCap teamed up with a 9 year old, not a 10 year old. In fifty years, would you refer to this event as "PopCap teamed with a 59 year old"? But 9 or 10, pretty neat for this kid. Can't wait to download, but I'm not in a wifi area, and it is over 20M.

Great game, but I beat all three levels in about 20 minutes. They should expand it, kick up the price tag to a buck or two, and give 25% of the proceeds to his for his treatment, 25% for pediatric cancer treatments and the rest for themselves.

I remember having this kind of vision and drive when I was young. I made my own games (mostly board games) and all of that.

Reality is such a downer.

neil5280 wrote:

Missed opportunity to raise funds for a good cause here.

Sell for $.99 and have Apple waive their cut. Send all the money to Make a Wish or to Cancer Research or some other deserving organization.

Ah well, great story nonetheless.

Wonder if the kid had some say in the price? Maybe his motivation would be to have "as many people playing it as possible" rather than giving $0.30 to Apple for each sale. Wouldn't put it beyond Apple to not make an exception for charity

I know stories like this are supposed to get you teary eyed and what not, and that's the easiest reaction. This kid has talent and unfortunately he's not long for the world.

This article and all other articles like it greatly anger me, however. Because of outdated religious ideals, bipartisan black-or-white politics, or my favorite, corporate greed, we can't get medical technology and science to the point where individuals like this child can live full lives and continue to enjoy their time on this earth and share their visions and ideas for the greater good.

I know I'm just giving off negative energy when everyone else is trying to be positive and happy, but I felt I needed to rant here. You'd think people would be more "civilized" and progressive in this day and age but in reality we are no different than our many thousands of years old ancestors.

I know stories like this are supposed to get you teary eyed and what not, and that's the easiest reaction. This kid has talent and unfortunately he's not long for the world.

This article and all other articles like it greatly anger me, however. Because of outdated religious ideals, bipartisan black-or-white politics, or my favorite, corporate greed, we can't get medical technology and science to the point where individuals like this child can live full lives and continue to enjoy their time on this earth and share their visions and ideas for the greater good.

I know I'm just giving off negative energy when everyone else is trying to be positive and happy, but I felt I needed to rant here. You'd think people would be more "civilized" and progressive in this day and age but in reality we are no different than our many thousands of years old ancestors.

Cancer research is not hindered by any of those things. It's hindered by the fact that cancer is impossible to cure with current and near future technology and despite the huge amount of money and talent thrown at the problem we haven't progressed very far in figuring out how to stop it

...This article and all other articles like it greatly anger me, however. Because of outdated religious ideals, bipartisan black-or-white politics, or my favorite, corporate greed, we can't get medical technology and science to the point where individuals like this child can live full lives and continue to enjoy their time on this earth and share their visions and ideas for the greater good...

Paradigms, fallacies, and classic corruption & greed may be more the issue here.

Sell for $.99 and have Apple waive their cut. Send all the money to Make a Wish or to Cancer Research or some other deserving organization...

Wonder if the kid had some say in the price? Maybe his motivation would be to have "as many people playing it as possible" rather than giving $0.30 to Apple for each sale. Wouldn't put it beyond Apple to not make an exception for charity

Apple doesn't allow charity apps. I can't tell whether Google does. They don't for Checkout, but there are tons of "donation" apps on Android Marketplace, so maybe Popcap could port it there and sell for donations. EA has ported Bejeweled 2, so maybe they'll port ASP too. (Isn't the best future for the Popcap purchase is if EA ports Popcap games to all platforms?)

I hope PopCap and Owain develop the game further in future updates, possibly paid ones. the included levels take only about 30 minutes, some more variety would be a great way to expand on this solid game.